carhop
Skating restaurant server
A carhop is a server at a drive-in restaurant who brings food to customers in their parked cars.
The job was most common in mid-twentieth-century America, when drive-in restaurants flourished: The carhop brought our burgers on a tray that hooked to the car window.
Some carhops famously wore roller skates.
The word combines car with hop, from the sense of a bellhop or someone who hops to serve.
Adjacent to the street
- trayShallow portable platform
- roller-skatesWheeled recreational footwear
- outdoorOutside, not indoors
- canopyOverhead protective covering
awning · pull-in · cruising · A&W · Sonic · intercom · headlights
Flat service surface
- boothTemporary enclosed compartment
- menuList of available dishes
- waitressFemale restaurant attendant
- grillCooking surface over fire
cook · short-order · hashbrowns · omelette · pancakes · breakfast · lunch · coffee
Restaurant service employees
- trayShallow portable platform
- uniformIdentical throughout
- roller-skatesWheeled recreational footwear
- orderMethodical arrangement or request
delivery · tip · gratuity · customer · patron · hospitality · courtesy · efficiency
Decade after WWII
- rockabillyHillbilly-influenced early rock
- greaserMachinery lubricator or fifties tough
- ElvisRock and roll monarch
- hotrodModified car for speed
pin-up · rock-n-roll · chrome · vintage · nostalgia
curbside
Adjacent to the street
- trayShallow portable platform
- roller-skatesWheeled recreational footwear
- outdoorOutside, not indoors
canopy · awning · pull-in · cruising · A&W · Sonic · intercom · headlights
counter
Flat service surface
grill · cook · short-order · hashbrowns · omelette · pancakes · breakfast · lunch · coffee · pie
waitstaff
Restaurant service employees
- trayShallow portable platform
- uniformIdentical throughout
- roller-skatesWheeled recreational footwear
order · delivery · tip · gratuity · customer · patron · hospitality · courtesy · efficiency · friendly
1950s
Decade after WWII
- rockabillyHillbilly-influenced early rock
- greaserMachinery lubricator or fifties tough
- ElvisRock and roll monarch
hotrod · pin-up · rock-n-roll · chrome · vintage · nostalgia
- drive-insdrive-in, drive-in theater, drive-in movie, speaker box, outdoor screen
- service workersserver, waiter, waitress, bartender, barista
- drive-in workersprojectionist, ticket taker, usher
- waitstaffwaiter, waitress, server, head waiter, cocktail server
- Dining Historydiner, tavern, inn, pub, cafeteria
- curbsidecurb, kerb, gutter, curb cut, curb cuts